This invention relates to cooking apparatus and more particularly relates to cooking apparatus in which a plurality of heat sources surround the foodstuff to be cooked and are sequentially energized to produce the effect of rotisserie cooking without having to rotate the foodstuff relative to a fixed heat source.
Rotisserie cooking is well known and is used to obtain even broiling or browning of meats by rotating the meat relative to a stationary source of heat. Conventionally rotisseries employ a motor-driven spit to which the foodstuff to be cooked is fixed. It is therefore necessary to successfully mount the foodstuff on rotisserie forks or the like; this mounting is difficult, in the case of some foods, especially if one is to be assured that the food will stay on the rotisserie during the cooking process. The apparatus requires the use of motors, bearings, fork and rod assemblies and the like. In the event that rotational speed changes are desired, special motors or gear boxes are necessary. Conventional rotisserie broiling is also a smoky operation which splatters the oven cavity and creates clean-up problems. Moreover, when using rotisserie-type cooking, it is difficult to employ conventional meat thermometers or foodstuff thermometers since the foodstuff is rotating and a slide connection to the thermometer would be required, which is cost-prohibitive. A further difficulty with rotisserie cooking is that most of the energy is supplied by a broil coil disposed above the meat being cooked, since the use of a bake coil beneath the meat would receive meat drippings and create a fire hazard. Since rotisserie broiling is conventionally carried out with the oven door open, when done indoors, it produces smoke odors, heat and splatters, and increases fire hazard. In addition, the operation is energy inefficient.